Editing Ezekiel (section)

=== Chronology ===
In the text, the "thirtieth year" is identified as the fifth year of the exile of [[Jeconiah]], [[Kings of Judah|King of Judah]], by the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] beginning in 597 BC (though the kingdom was allowed to continue under [[Zedekiah]]);<ref>{{Bibleref|Ezekiel|1:2|KJV}}</ref> this dates Ezekiel's vision to 593 BC. The last recorded prophecy of Ezekiel dates to April 571 BC, sixteen years after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|destruction of Jerusalem]] in 587 BC.<ref>{{Bibleref|Ezekiel|29:17-19|KJV}}</ref><ref name="Eichrodt2003">{{cite book |author=Walther Eichrodt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLN1BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA407 |title=Ezekiel: A Commentary |date=20 June 2003 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-1-61164-596-5 |page=407}}</ref> Thus, Ezekiel's prophecies occurred over about 22 years.<ref name="Clements1996">{{cite book|author=Ronald Ernest Clements|title=Ezekiel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cB5WoWI3FRAC&pg=PA1|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-25272-4|page=1}}</ref>

The "thirtieth year" may refer to Ezekiel's age at the time of his first vision, making him fifty-two years old at his final vision.<ref name="Eichrodt2003" /><ref name="Betts2005" /> However, the ''[[Targum Jonathan]]'' on Ezekiel 1:1 and the [[2nd-century]] rabbinic work ''[[Seder Olam Rabba]]'' (chapter 26) interpret it to mean "in the thirtieth year after [[Josiah]] was presented with a Book of the Law discovered in the Temple" in 622 BCE, the time of [[Josiah#Religious reform|Josiah's reforms]] and [[Jeremiah]]'s prophecies.<ref name="Betts2005">{{cite book|author=Terry J. Betts|title=Ezekiel the Priest: A Custodian of Tôrâ|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTxmJpdAuwoC&pg=PA51|year=2005|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-0-8204-7425-0|page=51}}</ref><ref>[[Tremper Longman|Longman, T.]], ''Jeremiah, Lamentations'', Hendrickson Publishers, 2008, p. 6</ref> These two interpretations can be reconciled if Ezekiel was born around the same time as Josiah's reforms.